Monday, January 21, 2013

Solutions To Water Crisis

By Regina D. Squire


Perhaps one of the most important flows of civilization would be water. Without water you cannot sustain life, grow crops, and in that case what's the point? Yes, you could bring in bottled water as they do in some places in the middle of nowhere, for instance some towns in the Middle East, but is that really sustainable? Since water is life, at least for humans, we need to take our freshwater supplies more serious. It seems there is always some sort of freshwater crisis somewhere in the world, yes, you can quote me on that. In fact, let's discuss this for a moment if we might.

This tiny fraction of freshwater is unevenly distributed throughout the world. So, some people have much, while others have almost none. In some countries like Nigeria and Mali, quantity is not a problem, but distribution and quality are. This is commonly so in developing nations. Each year, about 3.575 million people die from water-related disease. Million of people die globally from poor sanitation and contaminated water. Ninety per cent of the victims are children. Over a third of the world's population is seriously affected by water and sanitation crisis.

Before retirement, I was in the car wash business, and obviously water is quite important for work, and as cities hit Level II Droughts, generally the local municipalities, or county governments make car washes them severely ration the amount of water they get, and at Level III Drought, they are most often required to shut down. Imagine having your business shut down because there was no water, and you needed it to clean the cars? Indeed, that would be considered business disaster 101 crisis mode.

Yes, it seems rather funny that we live on a planet which is covered two thirds by water, but most of it is salt water, and there is only 2.5% which is fresh water, and that includes groundwater, the water in rivers, lakes, underground, and in reservoirs. Also, unfortunately it is not evenly distributed, and it certainly is a distributed the way human populations are around the globe.

Smart Water Use and Beating the Crisis With the inability to increase supply, California must reduce its demand, especially in the face of a growing urban and rural population. The most effective way this can be achieved is by the use of various water conservation strategies in order to meet the California water crisis head-on.

These techniques can include the following: a) Using native Californian plants to reduce H2O usage for landscaping. b) Replacing older plumbing systems with modern efficient toilets, showers and washing machines. c) Watering lawns at dusk and nighttime rather than watering them during the day. d) Minimizing the use of H2O for unnecessary purposes such as washing cars or driveways.

Creating a Sustainable Water Use Policy By avoiding the overuse of water, Californians can beat the California water crisis and ensure that the state retains sufficient reserves for its current and future needs. Creating a sustainable strategy for water usage and securing the state's future is a mission that requires the assistance of every California citizen.




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